2014-05-02 - Bludhaven Bloodbath
Bludhaven, tied to Gotham Island to the west by Brown Bridge, and cradled in by Summer Set to the north. It is a city in its own right and never became part of Gotham City. With its own city government and police department, it is completely independent. The state highway going through Bludhaven was once the original way to Gotham Island before the interstate over Trigate Bridge was built. Once, Bludhaven held itself above Gotham City, to higher standards. After the interstate however, it became impoverished and the city government corrupt. Many criminals from Gotham City have relocated here to flee from Catwoman and the many crazies that dominate Gotham City. In some areas like the central business district or Avalon Heights you can see the once fine beauty that was Bludhaven, while in other areas, like the Spine or the Zee More projects you can see where the decay has taken effect. It is cheaper to live here than in Gotham City, and it is not without some of its redeeming features though they are growing fewer and fewer over the years. At this point, flying through the air, some of the Titans are coming to Bludhaven to meet one of the 'newest' members of the Bat-Clan then that has become active. Heading towards one of the Bludhaven rooftops, Starfire is carrying a bag full of cookies. Black Bat would probably be sitting in the middle of the bat-signal if this was Gotham. She likes finding ironic hiding spots. In this case, she's actually dangling from the roof over the police department about eighty feet from the concrete. It doesn't LOOK like she's scoping the place or gathering information. It actually looks like she's sleeping, fingers gripping her grapple line and a small line of drool hanging from her mouth as she waves in the breeze just out of sight of the people below or inside, but quite visible from above. Apparently if she was told that you were coming, it didn't sink in very well. Nightwing is on his turf, and it shows in his confidence, despite almost getting blown up not too long ago. He is walking on a nearby roof, doing his usual patrol, but notices someone hanging from the roof of the police station. Not really having time to think on who or what it might be, he runs down a nearby fire escape and sticks to the shadows, not wanting to be seen so close to his civilian place of employment. Starfire comes in for a landing then over as she gives a wave over at the direction of the Bats then, and then goes out with a cheerful, "Hello! I have brought cookies to share for everyone!" Yes, Starfire wa salmost creepy in her friendly manner then over as she gave a glance of.. Uncertainty at Nightwing, but still a bright smile. Black Bat takes this time to get startled and her fingers slip from their grip on the grapple line. The Tamaranean's cheerful voice wasn't expected, and the Bat was actually out. Wakes up in free-fall and considers what to do as she snaps to full wakefulness. One second, Black Bat's falling. To her credit she isnt screaming also. Because... well it's Cassandra. She doesnt do stuff like that. Next moment, freefall stops and she's in someone's arms. Someone who seemed to blur in out of nowhere. "Hey..." the girl who caught Black Bat says. "We haven't really met. Hope this isnt some sort of big no-no with catching you before you grapple-hooked or something. I was actually just heading over to visit... you know Batwing, right? I was going to visit Batwing." Nightwing nods to Starfire, "Hey!', but is soon focused on the falling Black Bat. With remarkable speed and grace, though still limited by being only human, Nightwing runs forward arms extended, hoping to catch her, ready to keep running into the shadows away... only to see Kara snatch Black Bat out of mid-air. With a sigh of relief, Nightwing returns to the shadows. Starfire is floating along then and ready to dive along after the others then right before it seems Nightwing is on the swing, and able to.. Oh, goodness friend Kara! As Black Bat is caught, Starfire looks over cheerfully, "Now that we are all together, I have brought cookies!" She's only peripherally met Cassandra as well. Cassandra adjusts to the new trajectory as she finds herself in someone's arms. The primary reaction she gives is to look over the person she's found herself with and, as usual, doesn't open her mouth for much of anything. She does point at the rooftop and tilt her head gently, a suggestion. She lets her eyes flicker over the other two just to make sure what exactly is going on; she likes being aware of the situation just in case of total war. Always an option. Kara Zor-El looks back at Starfire, then at Black Bat. "She's very cheerful. It's her thing." She flies back up to the roof and sets Cassandra back down. She holds her hand out to shake. "Kara. I don't think I've ever met you yet." She pauses to look at what's going on around her. Nightwing nods and stealthily makes his way up the fire escape of the police building. Fortunately, he is aware of any blind spots the building has and takes advantage of them as he makes his way to the roof. Once he accomplishes this, he nods again, and takes one deep breath, "Well, that could have been worse." "Also, someone say cookies?" Starfire looks cheerful, "Yes, I have brought enough for everyone, and I insist that you all have some." Nightwing should know better. The cookies are Koriand'r's favorite - of mustard, jalapeno, with mustard hot sauce as frosting as she passes them about. Black Bat does something that might come across as a touch odd as she reclaims her grapple from the nearby roof edge. She takes off her mask and runs a small cloth over her forehead that she'd pulled out of her utility belt. Obviously not concerned with the secret identity issue, she stands up and reels in with the high-speed coiler, snap! Absolutely no comment on the, oh wait there it is. She looks at Kara and gives a respectful nod and frowns, smelling something nice. Baked goods. From the orange girl. Well then. Must be what Star's been talking about offering all this time. For all her training, there's a moment when it's visible that this is still a teenager. Mouth waters and she looks kind of plaintive looking hopefully at the cookies, with a small part of her attention on the newcomer. Kara's still a bit of an unknown quantity. Kara Zor-El looks at the cookies in Starfire's hands. "Um..." she says, holding a finger up, wondering how to warn Black Bat about Starfire's cooking without hurting Kori's feelings. She shakes her head a little at Cassandra, biting her lip. There seems to be a good deal of trepidation when dealing with Starfire cooking. Or baking. Or boiling water. Nightwing immediately regrets his decision to mention the cookies. He puts on a smile and takes one of the cookies and takes a bite. Nightwing maintains the polite smile. The cookies are jalapeno, mustard, and more mustard. Koriand'r smiles over at Nightwing, "YEs, have some!" Going to foist some over on Supergirl and Black Bat as well. Black Bat gives what seems to be a hungry smile as she reaches and accepts one of Starfire's creations. Considering how many calories the girl has to eat every day to keep up her normal activity level, she probably could use the additional supplement. Into her mouth and gone, she barely chews as the cookie goes down. A slight frown as she tastes it, but that's about all you get from the asian lass. She pauses, then looks at the tip of her tongue thoughtfully. Then shrugs and takes another, washing it down with a small liquid she has in her belt which Dick would recognize as a meal supplement she keeps when she gets peckish. Kara Zor-El wows to herself when Cass actually eats something Starfire made. Then eats another. Last time she had some of Starfire's food, she was hiding in Arsenal's bathroom. And the time before, the food attacked her and she had to use heat vision on it. When Kara herself is offered a cookie, she takes it with much fear. Then asks Starfire, "Hey... Starfire, what's that over there?" she asks, pointing at something in the distance. Then she throws the cookie into orbit before Starfire looks back at her, where Kara's faking as if she ate it. "Mmmm that was good. But I think I'm full now." Such a lie, since she doesn't get hungry anyway. Starfire was giving plates of cookies around. So far Kara had tossed her's into lower orbit, Nightwing had forgotten what it was like to eat them and such had been decoyed, and Black Bat was tentatively nibbling on one as Kory passed them around. Nightwing nods and nibbles at the cookie some more, afraid of throwing it away like Kara did, because he would probably end up being caught. "Probably your best yet!" He says, not really lying, it is a low bar. Nightwing again smiles. Black Bat is kind of not deceived by Kara's deception. Deceptive kryptonians. She does actually look that direction anyway though. Strangest thing, there's actually something that's got her attention off that way and the fact that her face is on fire only slightly distracts her. She pauses, looking back at Starfire with what seems to be annoyance on her face and she sticks her tongue out and fans it with both hands. As on the Bludhaven rooftop mustard cookies were being passed out, there was on the streets below a series of pops, crackles, and then the sounds picking up and passing by along multiple streets. A running gun battle had otherwise seemed to start to expand, even beyond normal Bludhaven standards. Where there is violence Batwing is sure to follow. The sound of the gunfire begins to echo when Batwing appears on the roof having swung over from another building. "Sounds like I'm here just in time," he says by way of greeting as he tucks the grapple gun away. Nightwing looks down at the sound of gunfire, "Great..." and the arrival of Batwing catches his attention, "Good timing, squirt. Probably have a short response time from the boys in blue, but if we can contain this, maybe we can prevent some damage. Bring any smoke grenades?" Starfire tenses, and glances over at Nightwing, "Do we have permission to engage and assist?" This is still Bat-Turf, and she knows that the Titans are not always supposed to operate out of here. Some of the Titans had flown in to 'meet' with Black Bat over on a rooftop and some of the Gotham Cast. As Starfire was handing out her infamous cookies on the streets below a gunb-attle had broken out. THe gun battle had then started to rapidly spread, and the group was getting ready to go out and face the haphazard battle lines being drawn. A red and black figure barrels down the highway, the motorcycle that Batwoman is driving similar colored, the bug guard designed into the shape of a red bat. She was traveling through Bludhaven to scout out the area, and more importantly, draw Nightwing's attention, one of the Bats she hadn't met yet. That was the reason, now she hears the sounds of multiple gunshots. Without hesitation she turns sharply down an alleyway, the motorcycle roaring like an angry devil as she plows right into the middle of the gunfight, knocking several of the gunfighters down as she passes by. She continues down the street, some of the gunfire being drawn towards her. After a few hundred feet she does a quick u-turn and makes another pass, "Red Knight. Cruise." The motorcycle beeps in response and continues at its speed and direction and Batwoman lets go of the handlebars, drawing two specially designed Colt .45s. She is apparently quite apt as people start going down, rubber bullets slamming into peoples chests, groins, or legs. Black Bat frowns. Near the police building? She doesn't know the right word. It's the police...shop. Whatever. If it's this near to the police house then whoever it is doesn't care about being caught and that means more serious trouble. She's gone, pulling her mask onto her face and sprinting off the edge of the building. It's actually faster for her to run when possible than to swing, so she can be seen hitting the roofs on occasion in direction of the gunfire absolutely certain there'll be more to deal with than immediately apparent. The Black Bat lands with a barely audible crunch, crouching amidst a group of penny-ante thugs; only one of them turns to see her and he's gifted with the only sight of that particular little scene of who took them out. Three seconds later, Cassandra is looking around the corner for new targets as a thug's knees hit the ground amidst the unconscious bodies of his team, sprawled around him. Kara Zor-El looks over at Starfire. "I've sorta been told not to unless it's really necessary by Kal. They get touchy about it." Starfire nods over at kara, and then looks at Nightwing, "Yes, that is why I asked. Nightwing, are you all right with our joining, or do you wish for us to standby unless the circumstances escalate?" That is how the rules are. They do not join in unless necessary or given the okay. On the ground, bullets are flying as the Bat-Family deploys in numbers and starts to engage, Starfire hesitatn on flying on in or just hovering. Batwing nods and pulls some smoke bombs from his belt in response to Nightwing's question. "Always, what's the plan?" he asks as he crouches at the edge of the building. "Assuming there are any thugs left." Nightwing looks to the two Titans, "Hang back here, if any break away, cut them off and convince them to stick to the main pack. Police will probably be deploying shortly, and I'd prefer to stay away from their bullets as well." The black dn red blur catch his attention, and when Batwoman draws her pistols he scowls, "Great, a new problem. Batwing, you cover the east side, I'll cover the west. Black Bat, you take the north side, avoid getting between them and the police station, we don't want crossfire, throw down smoke grenades if you got'em, flashbangs will work as well. Move out." With that, he takes out his grappling gun and is zipping towards his intended area. Starfire hesitates, and then gives a curt nod over at Nightwing, "As you say." She floats as well, flanking over at Kara then as she lets her eyes scan the area . Dozens of gang members of the numerous gangs that dot the wretched city have for whateve rmoment chosen this time to open fire, and the sound of weapons blasts is spreading quickly. Black Bat slides underneath a car as someone catches sight of her in passing, a burst of semi-automatic fire passing through the vehicle as if it weren't bulletproof. Huh. She hears Nightwing's comment over her communicator and understands her name and 'north', pausing to kick the foot of a nearby person who was about to pull a weapon. She doesn't bother looking, letting him fall into her hand and she slips him around into a reverse headlock. Just long enough to hear what Nightwing's saying, she needed the thug to shut up so she could concentrate. She puts his sleeping body down almost gently then heads off north...ish. Behind her, FAR away, someone with a hunting rifle takes aim. She held still, she's a viable target. Especially if she's a cape. Click. Someone want to do something about that? Batwoman barrels down the road until the clips on her colts are empty, she leaves behind her atleast six thugs that are out cold and that or more that are out of the fight for a little while. She holsters the guns, grabs the handles of her bike and turns sharply into an alleyway as bullets pings off her ride, a couple of them even managing to hit her back, though her cape and armor absorb so much of the energy that they are unable to pierce and hit the skin beneath. Dual batarings fly from the darkness of the alleyway, one slams into the hand of the ganger with the hunting rifle, piercing flesh and causing him to drop it. The second, blunted batarang smacks him soundly on the temple, knocking him out. Batwing nods and the smoke bombs are cast out in an arc to explode around the combatants. As the smoke starts to waft upwards Batwing pounces using his wing cape to glide most of the way to the street before folding it the last seconds of the drop so he slams into the gangster he spots coming out of the smoke with both feet. There's a crunch and the guy goes down. Another turns swinging his gun around but there's already a dart flying towards him. It sticks and the guy staggers back before collapsing to the ground. Before he hits Batwing is gone into the smoke. < Deployed. Securing east side. > Guy with hunting rifle. Aiming at the general chaos. No, Zinda is not going to check what side he might be on. Instead, she's going to sneak up on him and, hopefully, knock him out with one neat tap to the back of the head. At the very least, he isn't going to be aiming very well... Starfire tenses, floating in midair then as she sees the chaos sweeping the city. She shoots a look over at Kara then over then. Hating being helpless while her friends ar eputting themselves at risk, but otherwise not wanting to do when she has bene asked not to. Before he lands, Nightwing tosses a flashbang grenade into the midst of the western portion of the fighters, followed by smoke grenades once he lands. He speaks into his comm He flips a switch on his mask to show infrared in the smoke, and with his sticks out he enters the fray, taking out one gunman, still reeling from the sound, bright light, and smoke. The stick smacks the gunman behind the knee, with the other smacking his head, and Nightwing moves to take on the next one. Batwoman spins around, taking note of the flashbang behind her, then the billowing smoke. That's obviously one of the Bats. She leaves her motorcycle behind and charges out of the alleyway towards the smoke in a fury of punches, kicks, and acrobatics. Batwoman is without mercy, everyone of her opponents end up on the ground with atleast a broken arm, broken femur, or a shattered kneecap. Still she spins and pirouettes, an engine of pain in a black and red costume. The most disturbing thing about the whole thing isn't her viciousness, but the fact she is laughing while she does it. THUMP. Well, that didn't go well. Black Bat's fists slam into the side of a big-ish type guy whose body language is 'stuff this kid's head into a sewer outlet'. The guy manages to get the kid's head in and turns to look at Cassandra. She's the only one on this area at the moment as the seven foot brick wall of a male with no hair (including eyebrows) figures he should get one more before breakfast. He reaches for the Black Bat who, with her usual grace, saw it coming. He's faster than expected; much too fast for someone of that size, and his tattoos glow through his torn shirt. Some kind of ancient writings, glowing gold right through his clothing, to enhance his body. Speed and strength. Cassandra ducks under his longer reach and does a single handstand, her left heel slamming into his temple with enough force to crush hardened steel. Her leg grabs at his elbow and she whips both fists into the back of his opposite knee, fully willing to overbalance the lug, and lets her leg come down with piledriver force to crack the concrete underneath him to screw his footing even if she can't hurt him. FAR too fast, the THING falls and his fists hit the ground hard, and collapses the street underneath them both. As she falls into the sewer and the shockwave from his strike dazes her, she calls out her first word of the day. "help." That cry. Starfire cannot let one go unbidden. Her eyes flash, and she calls out in Kryptonian, "Kara, take care of her attacker." THen she's flying, like a firebolt through the air towards the toppling Black Bat. Starfire does not care over about such niceties, about such rules.. She will accept the consequences later. But now someone is falling, and she will not let them tumble as she goes like a streak to try and catch Black Bat as the girl goes towards the muck of the sewers. Nightwing snarls and sees the woman in the black and red, an intruder. With his sticks out he looks to her, "Get out of my city. Now." He is soon interrupted by another shooter, who is soon disarmed with a stick to the wrist, and another to the side of the head, dropping like a bag of hammers. Rifle guy taken care of, Zinda moves into the scene across the rooftops. It takes a few, but she's pretty soon...on a nearby rooftop, frowning. Oh, wait, company. She's pretty much ready for the guy who decides to leap out from behind the elevator hood, but not quite enough to take him out in one shot. Bam! Pow! Batwoman glances up, seeing the fireball streaking across the sky and feeling the vibrations, one of the big guns has taken the field. Her attention returns to Nightwing and is about to respond when someone to the side shoots her with .38 caliber pistol. Batwoman staggers for a moment, obviously hit. A growl erupts from ruby lips and she charges the man, a batarang taking the gun out of his hand. She grabs the ganger by the throat with her left hand, kicks him in the knee, the bone popping as it is destroyed, then punches him squarely in the face, cartilage crackling as she breaks his nose. Now she turns her gaze back to Nightwing and sees another ganger trying to sneak up on him. Rather than shouting a warning she flings another batarang, this one zips past Nightwing's head and hits the gun totting thug right between the eyes. There are definitely still people on the rooftops. It's kind of strange, but there's actually quite a few in windows as well. One to each street. EXACTLY one to each street, now that Lady Blackhawk has time to observe. Black Bat is caught by Starfire before she lands in the sewer muck. The large bald guy? Not so lucky. He lands on his back, a wave of muck and rubble making an absolute mess of the...well, messy place. And knowing something that's important to her, Cassandra looks around quickly and temporarily ignores the fight going on. She motions toward the big guy who is already up again in the sewers. The meta or whatever it is jumps out of the hole he made, looking for his little black target, and at the same time Cassandra dives out of Starfire's arms and....back -into- the hole like a small black missile, right by the guy's face who misses his grab. Too fast. Someone has got to get that girl to explain herself before acting someday. < Intruder over on the west, dealing with it > Nightwing grumbles over the comm unit. The batarang gets a bit close for his taste, "Clearly you have a hearing problem." Sticks out, he runs forward towards Batwoman, not wanting to get too close, but tries to bring a stick down at her wrist and the other at her knee. Starfire goes to yank Black Bat out of midair then, right in time for the girl to wriggel free then. Trusting Kara to otherwise deal over wtih the person up on the street with whatever abilities they're using to boost, Kory is focused more on watching Black Bat when one og the high velocity slugs from a rifle hits her in the back, and the Tamaranean lets out a cry. And over Birds of Prey frequencies...which Batwoman and Nightwing at least have. "You guys...oof...got him...have a sniper problem. A big sniper problem. It's a target-rich environment up here." Batwoman takes a quick hop backwards, two handles appear in her hand, with a flick of a wrist they detract to become twin batons, just barely managing to stop both batons. Still, she won't stand for being attacked when she is obviously on their side and strikes back with her own series of attacks. A jab with her left baton at Nightwing's center mass, then an overhand strike towards his head, followed by a lunging thrust kick aimed at his gut. She holds nothing back. Maybe fighting it out a couple blocks from BPD wasn't the smartest idea after all. There is a cacophony of sirens from the direction of BPD headquarters. Up in the sky the light that marks the progress of the BPD helicopter swings towards the group as well. It seems the gangers and the heroes fighting them are about to learn which gang in Bludhaven is the most powerful, and that's the BPD. In the fight Batwing sticks to the smoke and shadows, taking out gangers quickly and quietly. < Understood. Need help, my end is secure > Then Zinda reports the snipers. < Great. Is this what Batman means by other heroes leading to escalation? > Bludhaven always had gang problems but this was insane. Kara Zor-El sees what's going on below. Lots of stuff going on below, actually. Heluva lot. Most pertinent thing though is there's a big bald guy who looks like he's about to smash that Black Bat person after she dropped back to the ground. After Starfire got shot. First things first therefore. There's a blur from where Kara was to where Kara is next. Which is ramming into the bald guy so both of them crash through the street back into the sewers. Oddly, the snipers seem to be the only thing about this that's even slightly organized. The whole mess down bottom seems to be a bunch of people who have semi-automatics and attitudes, and they're very quickly running out of steam when faced with rapidly diminishing numbers and super-heroes. At this point the snipers, all of those who are still in action, slip back out of sight wherever possible and vanish. None actually vanish, but they do generally go away. What the heck happened with THAT? But down on the streets, things are winding down fast. Black Bat lands in the rubble and sewer mess, probably breaking an arm as she does a textbook dive into concrete and crap. She vanishes underwater, shouldering pieces of street out of the way. Something important in there. Nightwing does not take kindly to people who he does not know in his city. He blocks the first baton with his left eskrima stick, swinging outwards, while moving to his left and bringing his right up to block the other, swinging his left down at the extended leg. The light from the helicopter does not go unnoticed, and Nightwing swears under his breath. Right now a fighting retreat is possibly in order, he does not wish to fight his coworekrs and ruin his name with the Bludhaven PD. The thug that Kara impacted with? Not a chance. He's out cold and ready to go in for de-tattooing. Though to be honest, it's not very likely that he had a grand scheme. Looked kind of like hired muscle. A LOT of muscle, sure, but not a lot in the brains department. Starfire glances over then as she's caught by surprise, then as Nightwing signals the withdraw she hesitates, "Kara, help me locate Black Bat!" Ready to go diving after her into the murk then as the Bludhaven PD is actually arriving on scene and force before she dives in after the girl then. Black Bat shows up from the rubble, pulling herself out of the water and muck. Her outfit is torn all over and anyone scanning would see that she's got several, not one, broken bones. However, she's holding the boy whose head was stuffed into the sewer drain originally, who was underneath them when they all fell, with her broken arm as she pulls him up to oxygen. He's not breathing, but he's not underwater. You can find her by the gasp for air she makes when she gets her head out again. Batwoman is beyond angry that Nightwing would attack her and she pursues him doggedly. Her sticks slam against the now on the defense Nightwing's batons as he blocks her every attack. Then... Batwoman cheats. She drops a baton as she drops her arm, then her fist comes back up holding a reloaded colt. Pulling the trigger, she fires a steady stream of rubber bullets at the retreating fighter. << I think they're trying to make it a shooting gallery. I can pick them off, but I wouldn't mind some help. >> Lady Blackhawk, moving to another rooftop...and then swinging through the window below to land ON a surprised sniper who hadn't quite realized she was there... Starfire goes to pick up Black Bat and her injured compatriot up and out of the darkness, flying up with the child and Black Bat to a nearby rooftop and putting Black Bat to the side then, starting to give the child CPR << I have Black Bat. She is injured and a child who is not breathing that was caught in the crossfire. Can someone patch me in to emergency services? >> Trying to focus on CPR, get them breathing, anything.. When Nightwing doesn't reply to query about needing help Batwing leaves him to fight his own battles. < I'm coming > He replies to Lady Blackhawk switching his visuals to infrared as he moves for the buildings looking for snipers. Spotting one falling back he grapples up to the window and throws a flashbang inside before he storms in after him landing punches and kicks until he's down. On the street cop cars screech to a halt, forming a barricade on one side of the street and by the sound of the sirens there are going to be some blocking the other side as well in a moment. A voice shouts over the bullhorn "This is the Bludhaven police, you are all under arrest, put down your weapons and surrender immediately, this is your first and only warning." Most of the snipers are now gone. They seem to have been called back, which is decidedly odd. They were the ONLY thing today that seemed organized. Black Bat gets slowly to her feet. She drops the shreds of her mask on the rooftop and kneels by Starfire and the kid, checking his breathing and heartbeat by looking at him. Kneeling, she puts her lips against the child's and breathes into his mouth, not doing chest compressions. Must have a pulse. Breathe. Count...breathe, breathe. Count. Nightwing grunts as the rubber bullets bounce off his suit, but he is not in a position for a prolonged fight in the streets with the cops nearby. Instead he is soon in an alleyway, speaking into the comm Kara Zor-El cromes out of the hole she made and drags the unconscious bald guy out before dropping him. "I just want to state for the record this isnt because a Kryptonian was in the city." Starfire flicks over her comm signal Trying to use her eyes to glance about quickly as the snipers disengage. < Can we leave them with emergency services? > Black Bat is breathing for the child, she looks at Starfire and nods at her question. Breathes into his lips again, assisted breathing. Checks his skin for signs of shock with a touch. Breathe. The child coughs once, then opens his eyes and looks up at the people above him, starting to breathe for himself. Roughly, but hey. Take what you can get. Starfire flicks over at Black Bat, going to rest her hands on the shoulder, "The emergency crews will be up here shortly, but now we must go." Batwoman hears the chopper above and sees Nightwing retreat into the shadows. While still angry, she knows following ANYONE that is in the Bat Family into the shadows is a bad, bad idea. So, she holsters her gun and scoops her baton as she retreats back to her OWN alleyway where her motorcycle is, "Red Knight. Ignition." There is the sound of a revving engine as she disappears into the alleyway.... and bursts forth on her bike, she is moving too fast and there are plenty of problems for the helicopter above to deal with so she manages to get away with some judicial use of backways and shadows. Black Bat looks at Starfire evenly. She didn't see the body language or really understand the words as well as she should have, but she does scoop up the kid in her arms and stand with him, placing him into Starfire's arms as she realizes that she's the best to get him to the emergency team. She looks Starfire straight in the eyes and attempts to convey the mission she's giving the orange Tamaranean. Then she looks down at the kid and kisses him on the forehead before turning and dragging her sorry ass off out of the war zone. Starfire is picking up Black Bat then as the child is left for emergency services to pick up, and she's flying away over with Black Bat in tow towards where NIghtwing is signalling for the disengagement, otherwise swearing to herself over in her native tongue. As the snipers withdraw, Zinda doesn't go after them. She pulls herself back onto a rooftop. << The snipers withdrew. I wonder what that was about. >> Batwoman pages: You do excellent poses as well. < Sniper down > Batwing reports to Lady Blackhawk before he pulls the scope off the guys rifle to look for more. He is just moving to the window when the chopper flies over head rotors causing the air to whoosh through the broken window and flutter his cape out behind him. Over the noise he replies to Nightwing < Understood, withdrawing, meet you back at base > then he's gone heading through the building to find an escape route while the cops move in to round up the gangbangers. Kara Zor-El sniffs a little. What was that smell? She sighs. Bleh. It's her, isnt it. Stupid sewers. "Should have just served them Kori's cookies..." she says quietly to herself. Then looks around. "Hi Batwing.... Zinda..." She looks at Batwoman. "Um... other person...." Kara Zor-El smiles a little at Nightwing too. Then waves when she sees Carrie. < Sounds good, let me know when you get there >, Nightwing says over the Bat channel, over the Titan one he says, < Status report on everyone else? Try not to get caught >. He watches from a fire escape, not wanting to leave until the others can confirm their status. Starfire is disengaging along with the rest, speaking into her commlink << I have Black Bat, we will rendezous. Black Bat is injured and likely in need of medical attention. Where can I deposit her? >> As he withdraws Batwing adds < Not sure. Didn't have time to question mine > he answers Zinda's question as he withdraws. To Starfire < Bat Cave > he answers knowing Batman will have some words to say about that, but one of theirs was injured. Lady Blackhawk moves to the rendezvous point. She's curious as to exactly what happened here, so goes against her normal desire to, well, head back to where she belongs. Starfire floats along with the others then as they arrive at the rendezous point, putting down her passenger, "So then, can we trust the Police Department to handle this?" Damian parks his bike at the rendevouz point and hops off. He lifts the visor on his helmet. "So long as they weren't behind it, sure," he quips with a frown. "The police here in Bludhaven only have a nodding acquaintance with law and order," he sees Black Bat and looks to Starfire "What happened?" Starfire explains, "She was injured in rescuing a young one who was pressed underneath debris." She's going to let the others handle Cassandra when it comes to medical attention. Nightwing keeps his mask on, "Heh," when the BPD's competency is referenced. He frowns at hearing what happened, "We also have some rogue figure moving through Bludhaven, apparently. Apparently we need to put our guest policy in big bold letters." Nightwing crosses his arms and scowls. Cass is left to sit on the ground as Batwing's skill leans more towards causing injuries than treating them. "Right, the Crimesmith," he says about the rogue moving through the city. "Think it was him?" he asks before he nods "Tt. Batwoman, she's been running around Gotham too, Gordon gave her the nod, but I doubt Batman will like her much." Then his eyes fall on Cassandra. "What should we do with /her/?" whatever kinship he might have felt for her given their backgrounds was deadened by the memory of the nerve punch she gave him when they met. Starfire glances over at Batwing for a few moments, "She is your confederate and your ally. She saved a life." Starfire's eyes flash with fire, "Do not make me put you over my lap for such impertinence." Nightwing would likely get what she meant and might even let her do it.. Nightwing snarls, "Then she had best learn where the city limits are, and look for an invitation before trespassing. Also, she uses guns, so she is not welcome." He stretches his neck. "Eh, Black Bat will be fine. She can handle herself." He rubs his temples and looks at Damian, "Also don't hurt her, she is one of us." Cassandra Cain wakes up. Seriously, she passed out for a bit there. Not really sure where she is at this point. She looks around and realizes that there's others in the area. She doesn't move save to crack open her eyes, having learned at an early age that if someone thinks you're unconscious it's a good chance to get data out of them. She listens for a moment and keeps her breathing the same. Starfire glances over at Nightwing, "By your assent then?" A glance over at Damian then and her eyes blaze over, "For I believe that your young associate is too focused over upon the fact that inflicting harm upon others is more important than saving tem from it." "I'll take her." Zinda indicates Cassandra. Who's her problem, really. "I can take her back to the Clocktower out of your way." Batwing tilts his head over at Starfire. "Don't you dare," he growls getting his back up. Sure she's like a million times stronger than him, but when has that stopped Damian? "So, she saved a life, big deal, we all do that, I'm just tying to figure out where we're going to patch-" then Zinda steps in and volunteers. "There, settled," he says stepping back and crossing his arms. "Happy?" he asks Starfire. "I'll deal with him, he's my problem," Nightwing says, his tone annoyed. He looks at Damian, "Still, be nice. Not worth causing a fight here, besides, she would wipe the floor with you." Starfire glances over at Damian, before nodding over at Nightwing, "Very well." Then, going over and giving NIghtwing a hug, "I miss you." Cassandra Cain sits up quietly in her corner, wherever she's been laying. She stands up and walks like the proverbial ninja over to Batwing and puts her hand, her left one, on his shoulder. Just a touch there, but her body language says there's more to the message. Not really that good at getting things across, she says, "Did good," and includes everyone in the short speech. She's been listening. "I am being nice," Batwing counters archly before Cassandra touches his shoulder he turns then and considers her before he looks to the others. "See, she agrees," he says. He turns back to Cassandra then and gives her a nod his body language conveying his gratitude despite his otherwise grumpy demeanor. "Well, that's settled, then," Nightwing remarks. He returns the hug to Starfire. Starfire gives her ex a tight hug, but remembers not to crush his bones this time, "Take care, and keep us updated." Starfire amensd, "Oh, I did not give him one of these." She has saved some of the cookies, which are given over to Nightwing to give to Damian. "Share them with the rest back home?" Cassandra Cain puts her hand down. She goes to join Lady Blackhawk quietly, giving her a touch on her chest and a look into her eyes, whispering "Thank you," to the pilot. How she knew that the lady had stopped a sniper is anyone's guess, it was nowhere near her line of sight at the time. She's checking herself for internal bleeding though, so could have been hallucinating. Batwing shoots a skeptical look at the box of cookies, he didn't try one, but he'd heard some of what was said about them. He doesn't comment though, he just "Tts" before he heads back to his bike. "We're done, right?" he asks the others. "Try a cookie and tell Starfire how they are," Nightwing suggests. Starfire smiles over, "Of course,have some." A jalapeno-mustard with mustard frosting cooking, "Yes, they are wonderful!" Cassandra Cain is done right now. Back to the watchtower for stitching. Bone setting, sleep, a big meal...